Man in Malappuram district died due to Nipah virus, says Kerala Health Minister
Malappuram, Sep 15: The 24-year-old man who died recently at a private hospital in Malappuram was infected with the Nipah virus, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Sunday.
George said the suspicion of Nipah infection arose after a death investigation conducted by the Regional Medical Officer.
"The available samples were immediately sent for testing and it turned out to be positive," the minister said in a video message.
The Malappuram native who reached the state from Bengaluru died on September 9, after which his available samples were sent for testing to Kozhikode Medical college hospital laboratory.
Malappuram health officials said the results from Kozhikode medical college indicated a positive result, after which a high-level meeting was held by the health minister on Saturday night itself and she initiated the necessary steps as per the protocol.
Meanwhile, the results from National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune on Sunday confirmed the infection.
The minister said 16 committees were formed on Saturday night itself and a contact list of 151 people has been identified.
She said the man had travelled with his friends to various places and the close contacts had been isolated.
"Minor fever and symptoms were found in five of those under isolation and their samples have been sent for testing," the minister said.
A boy from Malappuram, who was undergoing treatment for Nipah infection, died on July 21. It was the first confirmed case of Nipah infection in the state this year.
Nipah outbreaks have been reported in Kozhikode district in 2018, 2021 and 2023 and in Ernakulam district in 2019, and the presence of Nipah virus antibodies had been detected in bats in Kozhikode, Wayanad, Idukki, Malappuram and Ernakulam districts.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
